Sunday 22 January 2012

A Rubbish Post

The life of a conservation volunteer is wonderfully varied. One week we may be moving sheep and ragworting, the next it could be moving ponies or cows and rubbish picking.

Last week it was rubbish picking.  It seems that some of the chalk grassland sites we work on were once grand fly tipping areas.  A lot of the larger rubbish is removed when a site is initially cleared and fenced, however, when the area is to be grazed, the remaining smaller bits of rubbish also need to be cleared and it is amazing how much of it there is.

After a quick sheep move our task was to rubbish pick an area at Hutchinsons Bank that will possibly be grazed by the project's two Dartmoor ponies in the Spring. It is strangely satisfying when one reviews the big load we removed from the site.


It is even more satisfying when one sees all the broken glass, barbed wire and other dangerous things we removed.  I wonder how many wild animals may have suffered with injuries caused by this rubbish.


Most of our volunteer livestock work involves the conservation grazing sheep but another variation over the last couple of weeks has been tasks involving the Project's cows and ponies.

I am not very confident with cows as the only ones I have been involved with in the past were some rather dopey bullocks owned by my boss in a previous job. These big fellows would happily walk all over you rather than round you:)  Animals are quick to pick up if one is nervous and the biggest give away is the way one breathes so I had to use the 'boring' technique (see 'Boring' post 18/9/11) to make sure I stayed calm while helping move the cattle.  The first move was taking five of the Project's Sussex bullocks to the field next to Holly Lane car park at Chipstead. They were all very good which is just as well as they were sporting sharp little horns which on occasions seemed to be just a matter of inches from the Grazing Officer as he ushered them into the trailer.


The second move was taking the remaining three bullocks to Foxley Wood, Purley.  This is a surprisingly lovely site, a little oasis, close to the infamous, car infested, Purley Cross and with views across to Riddlesdown.


Following the move to Foxley Wood there was just enough time to visit the farm where the Project is over-wintering twenty conservation grazing cows for the Corporation of London. Even though I am not a fan of cows I have to say these are a lovely group who seem friendly and inquisitive.  One particularly caught my eye as she looks as if she has just had her top knot permed:)


My favourite stock move over the last couple of weeks has been the return of the ponies to my livestock checking area of Tatsfield.  The sheep were moved up a field and the ponies have gone in at the bottom, conveniently next door to the farrier as they will soon need their hooves trimmed again.  It is the first time they have grazed this field so after gobbling down some tasty grass they trotted round inspecting their new abode.


Then it was time to show off with a bit of bucking and galloping around just to inform any rivals or predators (being ponies they still think there may be wolves in Surrey:)) that they are tough guys.


Then they noticed the sheep staring at them from the adjoining field.  Both ponies and sheep looked shocked and quite horrified at first but it didn't take them long before they were politely introducing themselves....


Lastly I wonder if other people are having trouble with their blog sites?  I have had to change my 'comments' from embedded to pop-up as some people (including myself) couldn't access them. Also there are several of my favourite sites that I cannot access at all and others that I cannot access the comments on.  Is it my computer or is it blogger or something else?  Any ideas would be most welcome.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the ponies, they look very happy; not sure about the the bulls, even the one with the curly hair looks like it could do some damageif you upset it. A large solid fence between them and me is what I would want.

Martin said...

Definitely the 2 ends of the volunteering spectrum: working with the animals and clearing up other people's rubbish. Another great blog and some lovely animal pics.

Helen said...

Hi Martin...I think I may be a bit odd in that I quite enjoy clearing a field of rubbish:))

anthony mills said...

Thank you Helen for your kind remarks about Foxley. In 1992 that field [known as Sherwood Oaks from a big old house nearby]was overgrown with bramble, scrub and 38 large compound stem ash trees, which when felled proved all to date from around 1964, when it was last grazed. It has taken the Friends of Foxley 20 years to achieve the object of returning it to grazing to try to restore the chalk grassland, and we are very grateful to the Old Surrey Downs and DCMP , together with Simon Levy and the Forestry Commission, which paid for the fencing, for all their assistance in finally getting grazing going again in Foxley. Long may it continue! And long may you enlighten us with such an interesting blog...

Helen said...

Hello Anthony...thank you for your interesting comment. It is good to know a bit of the history of Foxley. I was so surpised when we moved the cows there as I just hadn't expected such a lovely place so close to Purley Cross. You and the Friends of Foxley should be very proud of your achievements and I agree...long may it continue as it will bring a lot of pleasure to people and wildlife alike:)

Helen said...

Hi Anon...thankfully the cows don't seem as grumpy as they look:)

Anonymous said...

Bob Race used to mow that field until he retired - it used to have a lot of pyramidal orchids. Unfortunately after he retired the Council didn't mow, the scrub advanced and reduced the field to a fraction of its size, and the orchids vanished. Hopefully they may come back. I did have grazing in mind, somewhere around the early 90s, when I suggested to someone grazing sheep on there.

BTW, some coppicing went on in Foxley Wood's history. However they were allowed to grow out. I unofficially recoppiced a few hazels in the late 70s for my own uses. It opened a few areas up a bit. I've still got a pair of snowshoes made out of Foxley Wood hazel. :-) I'd have done more, but there wasn't any official backing, and in any case I moved to Selhurst in 1981.

Helen said...

Thank you for your comment Anon. It is always interesting to hear the history of the sites we graze.